According to a recent census, there are 265 millions people living in Indonesia.

Yes, I know it seems right. But it isn’t. Only put an ‘s’ on million when million is the main noun in a noun phrase. Very often million is the main noun in a noun phrase when it is at the beginning of a sentence..

Millions of people live in Indonesia, a huge archipelago in south-east Asia.

..but not always. It might appear somewhere inside a sentence:

Indonesia spends millions of dollars every year subsidising fuel.

In the noun phrase millions of people, millions is the main noun, modified by of people. We know exactly which millions you’re talking about – notmillions of bananas, for example! The same goes for millions of dollars (notmillions of rupiah!).

When million is not the main noun, for example when it is modifying another noun, don’t add an ‘s’:

According to a recent census, there are 265 million people living in Indonesia.

In the noun phrase 265 million people living in Indonesia, the main noun is ‘people’. All of the other words in the phrase give us information about ‘people’ – how many, and where they live.

The same rule applies to hundred(s), thousand(s), etc.

Practice

Instructions

Select words from the drop-down menus to complete the text. When you have finished, click 'Check your answers!' for feedback.

('Z' = 'zero article')

Last year of people around the world spent 2 dollars or more buying consumer goods. Of these goods, smartphones have become a dollar industry with of manufacturers in more than 3 countries. In the future this is likely to grow to many .